


Laimalin

by hateswhere



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst and Humor, Crack? Maybe?, I have no idea how to tag. No worries. I'll work it out., Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-18 21:28:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7331266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hateswhere/pseuds/hateswhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alinhu has always had a tendency to get sidetracked. Yes, sidetracked was a good word. During one of her pet projects that included a lot of crawling and too many nugs (And worms, do not forget the worms!), the sky opens up above her. Curiosity being her main drive in life naturally leads Alinhu to seek out any possible answers to the many unanswered questions lining up by the minute. </p><p>What is that thing in the sky?<br/>How did it get there?<br/>Can nugs communicate hypersonically? Wait, no. Hole, sky, what? Why?</p><p>Of course, like all stragglers staggering through this silly life, Alinhu has secrets. But hers might just catch unwanted attention, especially when she places herself within an organisation that calls itself the Inquisition of all things. What else could be expected? </p><p>* This has probably been done a thousand times before, but the idea's been bumping around my head for a long time now, and I'm taking this in a sort of 'ripping-of-the-band-aid' stride. First fanfiction, so I'm really just fumbling my way through this like a blind mouse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Have No Idea What is Going On!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello peeps! This is actually a bit of an extreme experience for me, believe it or not, as I have never done anything like this before! I must admit, I'm not even totally sure that this is something that is even worth working any further on. However! It has been done now, put out there so to speak, so I hope at least someone can get a bit of enjoyment out of it. I guess otherwise it will only be for my own amusement. 
> 
> A little disclaimer here: I'm not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes or funky language! 
> 
> Also I own absolutely nothing. 
> 
> "Cursive" indicates elven being spoken, though I do- erh, will include some elven phrases.
> 
> Anyhoos, thank any and all for reading this!

She had been wandering around in the wilds on one of her usual jaunts of spontaneous engenuity (trying to live among nugs), when the sky opened up in one big burst of power.  Even if the event itself hadn’t been terribly interesting, it scared away the little flock she had worked a whole month to assimilate into . Gone were a month's worth of lying on the ground trying to imitate their little squeaky noises and eating nothing but leaves, grass and _worms_ . That last one had been particularly trying, not the worst thing to have found its way into her stomach, but  a proper candidate for maybe the 50th or 51st place. All that squiggling really took some getting used to.  The surge of clear, _raw_ magical energy had flooded her senses and for a slight moment left her delirious and exhilarated. Crawling in all haste, or as hasteful as one can be on their hands  and knees, she had clawed her way through systems of underground passages until she finally reached the opening leading into the open air. The sight before her in the sky was _glorious._ Perhaps it was the lingering magical energy tickling her nerve endings, or the sudden arrival into actual _air_ , but when she looked into the fractured clouds she felt elevated, _high_ even. Her gob flapped uselessly, somehow forgetting how to function properly. The very Veil was _broken_ , that much was obvious.

“What?”, Alinhu sputtered. She blinked once, twice, three times before she repeated herself loudly.

“What?!”

Something rustled from within the pack at her side, and a small pink head wriggled itself out between the pack opening and the top flap. The little creature blinked almost sleepily at her, and for a moment its little eyes held a staring match with her. Alinhu blinked again. She wondered for a moment, how- no _when_ the nug had found its way into her supplies. It almost seemed frightened, but even more so it seemed _guilty_ at being caught. Who would have thought nugs had a culture for stow away?

Clever little nug.

The critter squeaked nervously as the flashy light in the heavens caught its attention. Even its blind little eyes caught the green-splattered sky. Alinhu turned back towards the phenomenon unfolding in the sky, raising her hands towards her face and making little cylinders over her eyes she could look through. She took two slinking steps forwards, her long gangly legs moving restlessly even as she stood still. She twisted her hands back and forth for a moment, and the nug looked on as the woman watched the sky from between her fingers.

“Well, that is almost completely definitely a disturbance in the Veil”, Alinhu said out into the air, perhaps to the nug, though not even the nug was sure at that point. Had the nug been more cognitively aware, it would have experienced what could only be described as a moment of existential doubt. Nugs would not know what it meant when skies opened up all glowy and sparkly, however there would be agreement among nug-kind that it would not be a good sign. Though their life as a whole were spent mostly underground, it would be obvious that nugs would need to spend more time contemplating the new top-side danger. This, of course, would challenge the very foundation of nug-life. Obviously, nugs did not have capacity for such complex worries, and thus the only comprehensive thought in this one’s head could be summed up to something akin to 'Holy crack, I’m scared.'

Alinhu suddenly grinned down at the nug, all teeth and excitement as she shook out her hands as if flapping away some poor, unsuspecting fly. “I have no idea what is going on!”, the woman exclaimed, her voice as well as her long ears perking up.


	2. The Friendly Nug, Arnold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alinhu makes it to the Hinterlands and makes quite an entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so a quick follow up chapter then!  
> I don't own anything, yada yada 
> 
> "Cursive" sentences indicates Elvhen being spoken. 
> 
> Also, a small list of actual elvhen used in this chapter:  
> Atisha - relax  
> Lethallan - Kinsman, cousin, statement of kinship  
> Vallaslin - blood writing  
> Ea son? - Are you well?  
> Ir abelas - I'm sorry  
> Da'len - Child, young one
> 
> All credit to Fenxshiral for any and all elven!

It had been quite a sight when Alinhu stumbled out of the woods into the refugee camp which had been established and stabilized within the Hinterlands region. She was unnaturally pale from months of being underground as well as a rather unconventional diet (sometimes she felt like the worms were still squiggling around in her belly). The paleness was however covered by the grimy dirt and soot that clung to her skin like a second hide. Two weeks of travel had done nothing for her appearance either.

When she broke through the tree line, and made it towards the little establishment ( _the Crossroads_ , it was apparently called) she hadn't expected anything per se. She had not considered how she might look, so focused was she and so excited to simply discover why in all the Worlds the heavens had decided to go all wonky. Her appearance only came into consideration when a child, and infant really, of barely 4 years of age took one look at her and promptly burst into big, terrified tears. Startled, Alinhu looked at the child confusedly before looking down at herself, from her almost black hands, over her clothes that were now stiff from mud and other unspeakable things that had dried up in the fabrics, down to her bare toes that almost disappeared into the ground like camouflage.

In retrospect, a bath might have been in order somewhere along the way.

A flourishing of fabric in her peripheral vision caught her attention, and when she looked up a female elf stood before her, her brows all concerned and twisted as she stared back at Alinhu.

“Atisha, lethallan. You are safe now.”, the woman spoke as she put a hand on Alinhu’s shoulder. Blinking slightly at the contact, Alinhu looked down at the little woman before her. Noting the _vallalslin_ on her brow and a familiar Andrastian symbol eerily hanging on her scout’s armor, Alinhu guessed her to be both part of some human organisation, and of some sort of Dalish origin.

Two dots that didn’t quite connect, yet somehow were present on this little conundrum of a girl. Intrigued, Alinhu looked into the woman’s eyes intently, perching forward slightly and moving her face quite close until she could count every freckle on the other woman’s face.  

“Safe. Yes- safe. I feel very safe.”, Alinhu muttered distractedly., “All guards and people. Guards are safe are they not?”. The other woman’s eyes were a murky brown-green color, quite the contrast to Alinhu’s own light-to-dark blue. Her hair was a mahogany - another difference from Alinhu’s shocking mop of blind-your-eyes white. Well, It was really more of a mousy brown-grey at the moment.

“My nug needs a bath. I probably need a bath as well.”, she continued. The other woman leant back slightly, uncomfortable at the close proximity. “What is your name?” Alinhu asked then, almost as an afterthought, her gaze snapping back to the other woman’s eyes. It had been wandering over the intricate markings placed on the concerned brows. _Andruil_.

“Ladahlen. Please,”, the woman replied, “Ea son? Are you well?”

“ _Greetings,_ Ladahlen, _I am well,_ ” Alinhu responded in Elvhen that clung to the ears like a stubborn squirrel. It was a strange kind of ticklish feeling, Ladahlen noted in the back of her mind.  The scout’s eyes widened slightly, before her face relaxed into the content curiosity of someone who thought they’d found a fellow sheep among wolves.

“I can help you find new clothes and a place to clean yourself. Please, come this way.” Ladahlen took her arm, as if to support her, yet ended up enthusiastically dragging Alinhu through the little square.

The woman  turned out to be quite helpful. Although confused and slightly disturbed by Alinhu’s rather strange behavior, she had helped the elf find new clothes and water to bathe. Alinhu had introduced her nug friend, now named Arnold, to Ladahlen and upon introduction the other elf had laughed herself silly.

Alinhu held up the pink critter to Ladahlen’s face as if in greeting when they sat in the scout’s tent after having cleaned both Alinhu and Arnold.

“This is the friendly nug, Arnold.”

He was obviously conflicted between the awe of being clean, and the disgruntlement of being bathed. It made for a rather interesting expression on it’s tiny face, and some rather contradicting sounds.

Alinhu had really, _really_ tried to encourage the nug to return to it’s own, however it had stubbornly refused and only responded to her efforts by burrowing deeper into her pack. So naturally Alinhu had adopted the thing.

It seemed that being clean and well-dressed significantly improved other people’s estimation of her. Ladahlen’s attitude went from concerned and wary, to concerned, wary _and_ friendly as soon as Alinhu was clean. Ladahlen just had to get over the the startling white hair, which in this post-bathing state, looked like a particularly stressed crow had made a home on Alinhu’s head.

She had been clothed similarly to Ladahlen, who had given Alinhu her own spares. The girl was significantly shorter than Alinhu, yet her uniform was obviously some standard make and more fitting to one of human build than the spindly elven. Where it made Ladahlen look like she had been at the butt end of a particularly permanent shrinking spell, Alinhu looked quite at home in the outfit. She was more lean, well gangly really, than any human, however she easily matched their height.

“You are dalish, no?”, Ladahlen asked. She looked at Alinhu so intently, as if the answer would pop up on her skin at the action. Chuckling, not unkindly, Alinhu answered with a simple ‘no’. Ladahlen was embarrassed at her own presumption, her ears colouring prettily, “Ir abelas, da’len. I did not mean to presume, but you speak the language of the People. I presumed you were.” Alinhu looked at the other elf, amusement making her eyes sparkle and glitter. She didn’t respond, only hummed low in her throat.

The Dalish were admirable in many ways. Ridiculously stubborn in most things in life, this quality also extended to their ignorance. Even so, Alinhu had to admire the way they clung to life like spider monkeys, a life away from subjugation and submission, and part of this was due to that same characteristic tenacity. An unfortunate side effect it seemed, were their condescending, if not outright derisive, bordering on hostile, attitude to anyone outside of the Dalish way of life. How often it seemed that people moved in converging rhythms between oppressor and oppressed. On the other hand, Alinhu wondered briefly whether she actually looked that young in Ladahlen’s eyes to warrant the title of _da’len._

“Do many city elves know the language of the people?”. Ladahlen seemed to have a shard of curiosity in her.

“I have lived with the Dalish at one point in my life,” Alinhu responded. It was a very non-answer. Seeing the way the the other girl tensed her back and the muscle in her neck twitched slightly, readied for more questions, Alinhu elaborated somewhat. “I was fortunate enough to befriend a clan a long time ago, they let me live with them for a while you see? Very kind, those Dalish. Well not all Dalish- this one time I was chased for half a day after I stumbled upon a Dalish camp! Quite by accident too.” Alinhu rambled on.

“There I was, exploring ruins I had _literally_ tripped over. I mean, I’d forgot it was there! I’d really just wanted to gather this mineral that had started appearing in the area at the time, and then there it was. A ruin! An Elvhen ruin, mind you. Wasn’t even down the thing for more than half and hour and when I resurfaced there I was in the middle of a Dalish camp!” Alinhu’s voice grew in volume as she spoke.

Ladahlen wore the expression of incredulity quite well, bafflement opened up her narrow face like a doorway. Catching her expression, Alinhu reeled in her own flooding mess of stringy sentences. “Ah, never mind that. What is that? It seems very Andrastian for a Dalish elf.” Alinhu indicated toward the symbol on the scout’s uniform. Something about the image nagged at the back of Alinhu’s mind. Little memories were desperately trying to crawl towards the forefront of her mind.

Ladahlen smiled somewhat conspiratorially. “It’s the symbol of the Inquisition, I work for them”

Ah.

Well, that was a startling development. An _Inquisition._  Alinhu would have never anticipated that an _Inquisition_ be started in all this chaos. It was almost unthinkable, yet apparently, not unthinkable _enough_.

“And you’re part of a Andrastian militia, why?” It made no sense. Somehow the world made no sense anymore. One of Alinhu’s eyes twitched, like a tick. In a sudden burst of inspiration, she took an apple from the plate of sustenance that Ladahlen had procured previously. She held it out before her, and then dropped it, watching in relief as it fell to the ground. Gravity, at least, was still working. That was something to be optimistic about.

Ladahlen looked at her strangely, answering her slowly as if talking to a child, or a slow person, or both. She quite possible considered Alinhu slightly touched in the head by now.

“It is led by a Dalish Elf. Not so much Andrastian, although in any shem organisation, that is to be expected. But this elf is marked by the Creators themselves! He can heal the sky, the Veil!” Ladahlen spoke passionately of the Dalish elf. This Inquisition was not so much an Inquisition apparently, in the original ‘let’s burn all the heretics’ kind of way, at least from the eyes of Ladahlen. It actually seemed to be structured around the very hole in the sky.

For all the apprehension that had draped itself around Alinhu, curiosity sparked in equal amount.  Ladahlen was actually quite talkative, especially for a Dalish elf, and she cleared up many questions for Alinhu. Quite without any effort on Alinhu’s part.

The hole in the sky - “The Breach” - as it turned out was of unknown origin, but caused by a large explosion at the religious congregation ‘the Conclave’. Alinhu was already familiar with the templar-mage peace talk event, and had actually considered traveling there to observe the two sides argue with each other. She had gotten slightly distracted by her nug venture however and had lost track of time underground.

Tragically, all the people gathered at the conclave had died, along with any hope of a peaceful solution between mages and templars. Interestingly, one person had survived the ordeal, apparently slipping from the Fade itself, with some mark upon his hand (the Makers mark, some believed. Or as this Dalish proposed, a mark of the Creators) and the ability alone to mend the damage done to the Veil.

Said Inquisition was apparently led by the survivor, the Herald of Andraste as he was called now, and had among other things stabilized the area that had been heavily crippled by the templar-mage war. Idiots really, who ended up taking their anger out on unsuspecting villagers more than their actual opposition.

Alinhu tried not to think too hard on the fact that in all the chaos, a religious militia had been erected at the very center of it all. That could lead to all kinds of trouble. What she did focus on was the possibility of actually getting near this Breach so that she could get some _answers._ She was slightly relieved that not too many seemed to have been answered yet. It would ruin the mystery and the fun out of the whole thing. Alinhu scolded herself for that thought. It was unkind to the many who had suffered.

Landahlen was in the middle of recounting a particular encounter with the Herald a week ago, when she was back in Haven from one of her missions. It was all blushes and shiny eyes from her at the moment, as she sighed over how handsome an elf he was.

Alinhu interrupted the dreamy look that started to settle on Landahlen’s face.

“So, In what direction do I need to go to find this ‘Haven’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read & Review if you feel like it!


	3. Wooden forges? Since when?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alinhu's first night spent at the Crossroads! Left to her own devices she meets new people, and show a little bit of her magical inclination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again,  
> I own nothing as per use' 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter - I've tried to add some length to the thing this time as the other chapters have been quite lean. 
> 
> I'm sorry for any funky language, I'm not a native speaker.

Alinhu had more or less considered just getting a general direction of Haven, and then walking that way until she reached it. It could hardly be difficult to miss after all - it was a growing military force!

Her new friend, Landahlen, had point blank _refused_ . She had apparently taken it as her responsibility to take care of Alinhu, whom she had deemed more or less incapable of the task herself. It was endearing, if completely unnecessary, to have someone care for her safety. Even in the pretext of her being mentally challenged. In the end Landahlen had convinced her to wait the week out when some of the  the stationed scouts moved to Haven, including Landahlen. She could travel with them more safely than on her own. As Landahlen put it, bandits and lingering templars and mages still littered the forests and roads. Landahlen didn’t know that bandits, templars or mages were hardly a problem for Alinhu. She was very capable of keeping out of such sticky situations. Well, to be honest she was horrible at keeping _out_ of those too-close-to-death spots, but she was very good at running from them.

Landahlen had tried to get out of her scout mission-duty scheduled for that same evening. She and a small group of fellow scout were supposed to track the area for any templar or mages wandering into the area. The initial established groups had been eliminated, however the threat of additional invasion was ever-looming. Apparently. She had looked at Alinhu worriedly, and then slightly guiltily when she told Alinhu that she would be gone for the rest of the day, and return late tomorrow at the earliest. Yes, it was quite clear that Landahlen thought her a bit incapable. Alinhu had smiled, broadly, and told Landahlen that she would be absolutely fine. She had after all managed to trek through woods for two weeks before her arrival at the Crossroads. She could probably, _hopefully_ , manage some time in a village alone. Besides, Arnold seemed quite taken with the place, if _he_ could do well here then certainly she could as well. Landahlen had snorted at that, but left well enough alone.

Landahlen had said that Alinhu was free to use the tent for the evening, however she had arranged for Alinhu to sleep in the upstart smithy at the Crossroads, as the scouts wouldn’t be comfortable to share their tent space sleeping with a complete stranger that wasn’t even affiliated with the Inquisition. Landahlen and a couple of other scouts had entered and exited the tent like a pendulum after that, readying for the mini-mission. The other scouts, who Alinhu noted were a wide representation of all the races of Thedas, looked at Alinhu curiously but did not engage in conversation, and otherwise paid her no attention. Alinhu took her time to study their apparel and general appearance. The five that would join Landahlen consisted of two dwarves (lady dwarves at that), and three humans (two blokes and a lady). It was quite the sight really, to see such a diverse group work so closely together. That of course spoke more to the discriminatory nature of most of Thedas' cultures than anything. Perhaps the Inquisition could move beyond that? Move its purpose beyond healing the Veil, towards bettering Thedas in general by establishing some form of equality between the races. It was a hopeful thought, and certainly a better alternative to an andrastian organisation that would experienced the inevitable vacuum of purpose after its initial goal - vanquishing the Breach - had been dealt with. Yes, the Andrastian religion in particular when left to their own merry devices had a particular tendency to turn their forces towards rather _distasteful_ ambitions. Usually with the the non-human population at the receiving end.  Yes, Alinhu concluded, it would possibly be a good idea to keep an eye on this Inquisition.

Ten minutes after the scout entourage had left, Alinhu started into the Crossroads to explore the little enclave. Walking through the village she could see why it was called the Crossroads, as it was quite literally just a crux of roads that for some reason had warranted a small establishments of huts to be raised. The people were in general nice, save the standard attitude towards any elven, however Alinhu paid them no mind. Arnold sat comfortably in her pack as she more or less strode haphazardly in a zigzag pattern from building, to tent, to building. It had taken her all but 20 minutes to learn the outlay of the little village. It would have taken her less, but she had taken care to talk to almost everyone she met on her way. Many had flushed a bit in indignation when she spoke rather freely to them, quite put off by the uncharacteristic behavior from a _knife-ear._ That combined with how she dwarfed even many of the humans made them quite baffled.  Alinhu had buggered on however, ignored their bias and inquired to the state of the area.

“Well, what d’ya think?” an elderly man had said to her. “We’re bloated wit’ refugees, none too much food t’ go ‘round.” His voice rumbled and cracked. He was a refugee as well, Alinhu had discovered during her conversation with him. Erik, was his name, and he assisted a woman named Sara in manning a small tanning stand and smithery (Alinhu noted in the back of her mind, the smithery was where she was supposed to sleep). He had lost his daughter and son-in-law during the mage-templar crisis, however had managed to rescue his granddaughter and escape here to the Crossroads with her. Pipsqueak he called her endearingly, since she was so small, yet held so much courage. Even through all this tragedy she managed to stay a somewhat happy child. He had been a smith, before this quagmire had turned his livelihood and part of his family to ashes. The smithery at the Crossroads weren’t so much that, as an organized place to fix and make clothing from the few leathers brought from the hunters, as well as armor maintenance for the stationed scouts. It was a work in progress, and could possibly turn into a proper smithery given the right time and resources.

After having toured the rest of the Crossroads, Alinhu had discovered a developing tavern that tried to provide the bare necessities to the locals, as well as a military person who apparently organised the area and resources (what was his name? Fail? Captain Fail? What a strange name). After leaving Arnold to sleep at Erik’s (Erik had been quite surprised to see the nug grumble out of the packs opening), Alinhu spent the next hour and a half hunting various wildlife critters and dragging them back to the Crossroads. It left the denizens of the Crossroads baffled yet again, however grateful nonetheless. It was useful work, and it kept her from being bored. Well, for an hour and a half it did, then the little cells in her brain realized how incredibly _tedious_ work hunting truly was and promptly threw a hissyfit.  

She sat now before Erik, who looked at her through slightly wide eyes after having dragged a ram through the door. She had brought the others to Captain Fail who had seemed delighted despite his rather grumpy attitude. She would possibly be grumpy as well if her name was Captain Fail.

Ah. She could hardly talk. Her self-imposed name was not anymore sunshine and rainbows than his. Hers was chosen however.

Erik seemed to get over the fact that she was an elf rather quickly after that. Pipsqueak, or Elaine, had arrived not long after and, after the initial apprehension, had excitedly climbed into Alinhu’s lap upon discovering the little friend that kept to her side. Arnold was apparently quite the crowd pleaser.  Alinhu had left the two to play after introduction, and dealt with the ram that both needed to be skinned and gutted. Another task to keep her busy. Sara had arrived halfway through the process, when Alinhu was elbow deep in the ram. The other woman had looked at her for a moment, before stating, rather casually as well, “You must be the elf I’ve been hearing so much about.”

“Possibly.” Alinhu replied. “I am certainly _an_ elf.” She continued slowly. “Whether I’m the elf you’ve heard about is anybody’s guess”.

Sara had looked at her for a moment after that, simply absorbing what Alinhu had said, then promptly burst into jolly, belly-deep laughter.

“Yes, yes,” Sara exclaimed wiping some tears from her eyes after she calmed down. “Must be her, the stranger dragging food to the village, no?”. Alinhu detected a slight Orlesian lilt to Sara’s voice.

“Yes”, Alinhu agreed with a furrowed brow. Her tone was too serious in comparison to Sara’s that gurgled with laughter right at the back of her throat. “That would indeed be myself.”

At that Sara chuckled, however kept herself from outright laughter.  

“Well, I don’t mind.” Sara rubbed her ears, indicating what she meant. “So long as you do not hurt anybody, I won’t mind.” Alinhu thought it sounded vaguely like a threat.

“Ay aye” Erik agreed from across the other room. The smithery was a two roomed hut. One room was designated sleeping and supply area, and the other was part of the working area and opened up into the outer space where a makeshift forge and cooking area stood underneath a bare roof.

Alinhu looked from one to the other, shrugged nonchalantly, and replied “Well, good enough for me.”

Sara she found out, grew up in rural Orlais, but as a young girl moved to Ferelden which had butchered her accent quite a bit. She, like Erik, was used to working at a smithery as most her family had grown into the craft after moving from Orlais. She was a rather warm woman, however there was a glint in her eye that told Alinhu that this human was sharp as a knife as well, when she wanted to be, and the look seemed to scrutinize Alinhu very thoroughly.  Alinhu wondered for a moment what this woman, Sara, found during her visual inspection. Whatever it was it was obviously not that alarming, as she let Alinhu stay for the evening.

After having eaten a few hours later, Alinhu set to rinse the bones from the ram. The two humans looked on in interest for a while as she fiddled with the carcass, however they quickly lost interest when they could not divine what _exactly_ Alinhu was doing. Alinhu could hear the slight noises of sleep coming from Elaine and Arnold from within the hut. She retrieved her pack from where it had been left by the wall earlier in the day, pulling from her supplies a small, sharp carving knife. She spent the rest of the evening carving what looked to be splinters and nails from the bone of the ram. When she was done, she pulled out a much smaller tool, what looked to be a small curved needle, and proceeded to carve what looked to be strange rune-like symbols into the bone pins.

Sara and Erik exchanged stories with Alinhu through the night as they sat around the cooking fire each with their own handiwork. Alinhu in return told a few of her own. Among other things her recent adventure with nugs, that had led to her new family addition. That particular story had induced much amusement in the two humans. Trying to explain that it was for _scholarly_ purposes and that there was much to learn from critters that lived most their lives underground, if you say, were interested in exploring underground tunnel systems, had fallen on deaf ears. It was a long time since Alinhu had been such a startling red hue.

“My dear old friend Berarin, now he was a proper goof! And for a dwarf, by the Ancestors could he run!” Alinhu laughed in the middle of recounting one particularly humorous story about one of her friends. Sara was gurgling her peculiar laugh, and Erik had an amused twist to his mouth as he worked some leather.  “I’ve never seen so many angry dwarves before! And they were all purple, right down to their small cloths, it took forever for them to wash out so for weeks they ran about their business looking absolutely violet!” At that comment even Erik let out a proper laugh, a crackly, wheezy thing. It had been a long time since Alinhu recounted old stories of her own life to others, much less to herself. Even through all the laughter, a melancholic tang hung out at the back of Alinhu’s tongue. A rather sad party of emotional turbulence, that clogged her throat and made her eyes prickle inexplicably. Alinhu hurried to smile a bit brighter, and laugh a bit harder at that.

As night fell properly, Sara and Erik went to sleep, however not before retrieving a fur for Alinhu and explaining that she was welcome to sleep in the second room of the hut, the working area. Alinhu settled herself against a corner wall and sat for a long while contemplating the new information that she had gathered within the day. It didn’t take long for both Sara and Erik to fall asleep. Sara gurgled slightly while she slept, just like she did when she laughed and Alinhu wondered briefly if there was something in her lungs. Upon listening more intently she could detect a slight wheezing sound every time Sara breathed in. Erik on the other hand roared like a bear as he slept. Typical for older humans, men in particular. She could hear that the way his throat relaxed as he slept impeded his ability to breathe. Not something he would notice necessarily, sure he might wake himself up from time to time, and be sore and uncomfortable when he woke in the morning. In the long run however it was hardly healthy.

She would look at that in the morning - she didn’t think they would appreciate waking to her looming around them as they slept. That could turn awkward quite quickly.

There were many things to be considered about the new development, this _Inquisition._ Sure the leader, or as good as a leader as he was not actually named the Inquisitor, was Dalish.  That however didn’t necessarily mean anything _good_ . It could possibly mean that the Inquisition could turn towards what Alinhu considered a more noble purpose, simply because of the _possibility_ that this elf had taken the first-hand experience of inequality and turned that towards actually helping other elves and people in general. However the Dalish were in some regard just as bad as the humans when it came to inequality. It really depended on the personality of this fellow. Alinhu had to meet him, she decided.

Alinhu couldn’t sleep, and she hardly needed it anyhow, such was her constitution. Her elven sight made the night no great challenge, and so she rose from her seated position, and set to work as silently as possible around the smithery.

Gathering wood from where it was stacked outside, she went to improve the forge and workstation. Many assumed that Alinhu was non-magical, simply because she didn’t lug a staff around. It seemed most mages were quite attached to those kinds of tools. It wasn’t something she was particularly open about, such as the times were that would simply be stupid, however she made a point out of not actively hiding it, not lying about it. It was a small deception then, which did not involve untruth as much as careful misdirection. Skilled as she was, most spells she used were not of the fire-lightning and doom type, and thus were hardly noticed in everyday life. A consequence, really, of living as an apostate for a very long time. Need drove even old wolves to learn new skills it seemed, and Alinhu had adapted her magic to suit a simpler, more quiet life. She had never really interested herself with battle, which seemed the main purpose which magic was turned towards nowadays. Alinhu’s particular skill laid more on the _tinkering_ side of things, as she developed various contraptions to better (hopefully) the lives of others and mainly help her with her adventurous and curious (Alinhu would say _scholarly_ ) nature. Therefore when splitting and carving the wood, Alinhu drew runes upon its surface and then watched as the material bent to her will. The pieces fell apart silently and cleanly, making it possible to almost complete her work by the morning.

Erik was the first to rise, just before dawn. He had a small lantern lit, which he used to navigate through the small home. Arriving outside, he was shocked to see the elven lass almost finished with what seemed to be a new forge, built around the old one.  The design was foreign, made of weaving yet simple carvings which made it almost look as if the forge had grown out of the ground. Erik noted rather confusedly that the thing was made out of _wood_ , a wooden forge that was currently pulsing away with a newly lit coal stack. Startled Erik rushed over to the forge, thinking that this would turn disastrous any minute, but nothing happened. The red hot coals stayed controlled, and most importantly did not set anything on fire. Erik blinked owlishly for a moment and rubbed his eyes.

“Good morning, Erik!” Alinhu exclaimed from where she worked beside him, carving out some final figures in the wood. “Fancy some tea?”

Erik grunted non-committedly, and looked in wonder at the forge, which he noted, was actually a _proper_ forge. Work area included and easy to work with. The design and the way the wood (he was still trying to get around the fact that the whole damn thing wasn’t burning down) enclosed around part of the burning coal offered more intense heat deeper within the contraption. At the foot of the forge a pedal mechanised the air to move beneath the coal making it light up brightly as Erk tested it out with a few pumps. As the coal lit up, he thought he saw the light catch on what looked like inscriptions inside the forge on the wooden surface. Erik blinked once, and pushed the pedal one more time. Sure enough, within the forge and around it were swirling inscriptions of a kind that Erik hadn’t seen before. He noted for a second, that the bone splinters and nails that the girl carved yesterday were now placed in symmetrical patterns within the forge.

He looked over to the elven lass who had brought them the ram, and had now made them a brand new forge, much better than the sorry excuse they had had the day before. She stood to his side with her arm outstretched and a cup of what he assumed was tea in her hand. Erik caught her eye for a moment, and for a second the smile on Alinhu’s face became very secretive, conspiratorial. Erik narrowed his eyes at the lass, but in a split second decision of weighing out the pros and cons of having a _mage_ in their vicinity, he decided he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The girl, child really if he was to give a guess, had been here for barely half a day and had been damn _useful_. He took the tea from her with another grunt, the most he could muster so early in the day.

“It will help.” Alinhu said, smiling slightly.

Erik wondered for a second as he downed the drink, help with what?

Sara had been equally surprised, suspicious and then deliberative upon waking and finding Alinhu’s latest pet project. A moment of silent communication between Erik and Sara however, and Sara seemed to relax and just accept that yes, this weird tall-yet-little girl had indeed put up a rather stately forge during the night, and did not look worse for wear for it (she didn’t even want to think about how _wooden_ the forge was).  The girl was rather a ball of energy. Much like Elaine who could hardly sit still for a second, Alinhu (what a strange name, elven probably) would fidget even when she sat or stood still, and her arms would flutter about as if urging the rest of her body to get a move on. It pretty much gave the impression that she was very active, on the move even when she stood perfectly still. They ate breakfast together, and Alinhu spent the meal chatting excitedly with Elaine, who rather enjoyed their silly banter.  And boy, was it silly. It was exactly the kind of childish nonsense that left most adult’s heads spinning, yet seemed right up the ally for this Alinhu.

“No no, nugs should definitely _fly,_ that would be incredibly useful- Well, maybe not to them. Much would need to be changed at least, but the possibilities! Swimming like a fish is _boring_ it just takes a lot of wiggling and holding your breath.” Alinhu argued back at Elaine whom had previously stated that nug-mermaids would be the best thing ever. Alinhu proceeded to hold her breath for as long as she could while wiggling around as if swimming. Elaine tried to match her movements, yet couldn’t hold her breath as long and quickly gave up in hysterical laughter.

The elf continued her argument however, after sucking in one huge gulp of fresh air, not at all minding Elaine that clearly couldn’t follow the elfs complicated line of thought, but found it funny nonetheless.

“Flying takes a very specific aerodynamic structure! It is way cooler than swimming! Besides, I think nugs can swim already.” Alinhu looked over to her nug, Arnold, who was sitting beside her enjoying some of the grain broth. “Do you swim?” Alinhu asked the nug, as if the thing could actually answer and at this Elaine looked at the nug intently. The nug blinked up at the two girls and squeaked. Elaine nodded solemnly then, “Yes, I see. You don’t need to swim then.” Alinhu, nodded in agreement.  

Alinhu spent the next day gathering ore from the surrounding area which she brought to the smithery so Sara and Erik could process it. They tried to pay her for her work, but Alinhu had no need for the coin and sneakily slipped them back into their pockets when they were occupied.

It had taken a frighteningly short amount of time to gather a handsome amount of metals, and Alinhu mourned how absolutely _slow_ time went in this little place. She had returned for the third time with a sack full of metals (she had stealthily lightened the load by magic, Erik was sure) and cheerily asked the two human how long she had been gone then, thinking at least half the day should be gone by now.

2 hours. She had only been gone for _about_ two hours. Alinhu looked almost heartbroken, even felt it as well. She wanted to scream in frustration, and pointed at the two humans, voice raised and her other arm flapping about in agitation, “you’re making time go backwards here!” Erik and Sara both had laughed at her. At that she had grabbed her pack with Arnold in it, who squeaked indignantly at being jostled around, and stormed out of the smithery.

Arnold actually did seem to quite like the Crossroads. Nugs though often quite cautious creatures, Arnold seemed quite interested in the bustling village life and watched intently from Alinhu’s side-pack. He was a bit smaller than the average nug, the runt of the litter probably. He had a tendency to squeak sociably every time they walked by some of the local children. Alinhu had paid no mind to it at first, until she stopped at one point rather abruptly and was immediately _throttled_ by a bunch of tiny human creatures that had apparently been matching her quick pace behind her. The children were apparently quite enamored by the critter in her bag and tried to feed it little pieces of fruit and bread, which meant a lot of running for them, as Alinhu didn’t so much walk as slowly sprint around. Her overly long legs did not help matters either.

“You’re gonna get fat, you know?” Alinhu had said to Arnold, who looked up at her from his spot in her supplies. “ _Round as a planet, and then I won’t be luggin’ you around so you won’t get trampled_ ” Arnold snorted at that, as if in disagreement. “ _I’ll be dragging your puffy self ‘round ‘cus your legs can’t reach the floor anymore._ ” Alinhu sounded almost sulky as she said that, her elven made the children’s ears tickle and tinkle slightly. The nug turned his head away, dismissing her and accepting another treat from one of the children. A little human girl who almost giggled uncontrollably, and then quickly ducked away into the crowd of children that surrounded her. Alinhu sighed, but continued on, now taking care to walk slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, review, kudos etc. if you feel like it :)


End file.
